St. Tammany Parish Hosp. v. Burris,
No. 2000 CA 2639 (La. Ct. App. Dec. 28, 2001)
A hospital sued the father of a minor patient for payment for services rendered
to the child. The father argued that he was disabled and unable to pay the bill.
He also argued that the hospital did not provide sufficient evidence that he
was responsible for the bill. The hospital provided an affidavit that the debt
was accurate and the trial court granted the hospital summary judgment. The
father appealed. The Louisiana Court of Appeals reversed and remanded the case
for further proceedings. The court found that the affidavit filed by the hospital
was deficient in that it did not specifically identify the patient who received
services. Nor was there sufficient evidence that the plaintiff was responsible
for the debt. The court ruled that these deficiencies in the hospital's evidence
raised issues of material fact that made summary judgment inappropriate.